Grape juice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grape juice is a fruit juice obtained from crushing grapes. The juice is often fermented and made into wine, brandy, or vinegar. In the wine industry grape juice is often referred to as "must." Grape juice can also be sweetened and preserved as a non-alcoholic drink beverage. Preserving grape juice requires pasteurization because the unprocessed juice will naturally ferment from yeast on the grapes.
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[edit] Content of grape juice
Commercial grape juice and grape juice drinks contain preservatives and coloring, and sometimes vitamins. Like wine, grape juice also contains antioxidants such as flavonoids, providing some health benefits. These antioxidants have been proven beneficial to the skin.
Typically, purple grape juice is made from concord grapes, while white grape juices are made from Niagara grapes.
A recent study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that grape juice was among the highest in antioxidants among the juices tested, including pomegranate juice. [1] Care should be taken when drawing conclusions from these results, as the pomegranate juice used was only a 30% pomegranate juice blend- 30% pomegranate juice diluted with sugar water and other lower-antioxidant juices. The study was funded by the National Grape Co-op, run by Welch.
[edit] Welch's Grape Juice
Main article: Welch's
The method of pasteurizing grape juice to halt the fermentation has been attributed to an American physician and dentist, Thomas Bramwell Welch in 1869. A strong supporter of the temperance movement, he produced a non-alcoholic wine to be used for church services in his hometown of Vineland, New Jersey. His fellow parishioners continued to prefer and use regular wine (see Christianity and alcohol).
His son Charles E. Welch, also a dentist, eventually gave up his practice to promote grape juice, founding Welch's Grape Juice Company in 1893. The product was given to visitors at international exhibitions. As the temperance movement grew, so did the popularity of grape juice. In 1913, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan served grape juice instead of wine during a full-dress diplomatic function, and in 1914, Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, forbid any alcoholic drinks be on board of naval ships, while actively replacing them with grape juice. During World War I, the company supplied "grapelade", a type of grape jam, to the military and advertised aggressively. Development of new grape products and sponsorship of radio and television programs eventually made the company very successful.
[edit] Use in Religious Circles
Grape juice, due to its non-alcoholic content, is commonly used by religious groups (such as Baptists) who oppose the partaking of alcoholic beverages, as the "cup" or "wine" in the Eucharist.
